A Sandwich a Day: Eggplant Miso from LAMill Coffee in Los Angeles

In this great country of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around the country. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know.—The Mgmt.

[Photograph: Katie Robbins]

My trips to LAMill—an airy, super-hip, super-sleek, coffee oasis in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles—tend to focus squarely on caffeine consumption. Picking up some beans, sipping on a caffe con leche, an occasional splurge on something siphon dripped. But on a recent visit, the cafe's sandwich menu caught my eye, specifically the Eggplant Miso, and even more specifically the housemade nori focaccia on which this vegetarian creation is served.

It's a sizable sandwich, with layers of soft, creamy tofu, earthy spinach, thinly sliced eggplant, and a rich miso glaze. Flavor-wise the components jam really well together; the high notes of sweet and tang and the steady low bass of the savory miso.

Architecturally though it's a little challenging. It's hard to take a bite without the eggplant slipping out. And then there's the question of that tantalizing nori focaccia—it's spongy with subtle nori undertones that pair perfectly with the sandwich's other ingredients. But there's just too much of it; making it tempting to do the unthinkable and go open-face.

On the plus side it comes with amazingly delicious potato chips (salty, crisp, with just a little bit of that fresh potato chew) and for a vegetarian sandwich it's quite filling. But the price ($15) means that like a siphon-dripped single origin brew, this sandwich is a serious splurge.